GodzillaBurgh wrote:I wonder if Ed Godzisewski will ever reprint his ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODZILLA. I would love to read it!

A new edition of Japan's Favorite Mon-Star would be great too.

Driscoll: It has been about ten years since the release of your book, and six Godzilla films have been released since then. Have you considered updating Mon-Star, or publishing a supplement book? With another new American Godzilla movie in the works, the timing seems right…

Ryfle: I’d like to update the book. It would have to be considerably rewritten and revamped, rather than just expanded to include the newer films. I’d look at it as an opportunity to fix some things that were done incorrectly in the original edition. The book has been sold out for several years—the original print run was only 10,000 copies—but you can still get a new copy from the publisher’s print-on-demand service. It’s rather outdated, though, as you know.

Driscoll: I really hope your new book comes together! What are some improvements you would like to make if you get the chance? Other than the information about the newer movies, what sort of content updates would you consider?

Ryfle: I would correct factual errors (there are a couple that are even more embarrassing, in my opinion, than what you cited in your Toho Kingdom review) and add new interviews and other material. I’d delete content that is now outdated or unnecessary due to the proliferation of information available online. Also, I'd probably cut the chapter on the Tristar film in half and make room for other, more interesting material.

I’m not happy with the tone of the writing in some parts of the book; it’s rather immature and sophomoric in places. And of course the layout and graphic design is a joke, even by 1990s standards. So, my goal would be to rewrite, streamline, update, expand and expound. Who knows if it will ever happen, though.

Got this book for Christmas and I've been reading it during any downtime I have. It's pretty great so far, I love the insight to Honda's past and how he got into filmmaking. Excited to dig into the chapters about Kurosawa and, of course, the Toho films.

Finished this a couple days ago and it's everything you would expect and well worth the 10+ year wait (I first heard about it way back on the Classic Media commentaries). It probably has the single greatest account on the making of the original Godzilla, and I imagine we here have read many a great article on how that film came about. Pair this with the accompanying chapter from August Ragone's Tsuburaya book, covering the more technical details on the film, and you've practically got everything you need to know about it. But the real meat of the book covers Honda's calmer, dramatic output. If that Criterion Godzilla set ever does happen, hopefully some of those non-genre films will follow too.

My only real nerdy nitpick is that the authors come across as 'Very Serious' in spots lamenting Godzilla's turn as a superhero in the 70s, the quality of later Godzilla films (although Honda didn't seem too impressed by them either), and there are digs at G2014 and Shin at the end of the book for (as they see it) not following Honda's worldview 100%. I knew about those going in which I thought was a bit funny considering they write about Honda's genre films being perceived as militaristic and nationalistic upon release, so certain viewpoints on Shin is just history repeating itself I guess.

There are a few spots like this in the book but this part in the introduction sums it up best -

The uneasy postwar Japan-US alliance underlies many of Honda's science fiction films, and while Godzilla and especially Mothra might be interpreted as somewhat anti-American, Honda was increasingly optimistic about the relationship. In his idealized world, America and the "new Switzerland" of Japan are leaders of a broad, United Nations-based coalition reliant on science and technology to protect mankind. Scientists are highly influential, while politicians are ineffective or invisible. The Japan Self-Defense Forces bravely defend the homeland and employ glorified, high-tech hardware; but military operations often fail, and force alone rarely repels the threat. Assistance often comes from monsters, a deus ex machine, or human ingenuity. Honda was also frequently concerned with the dehumanizing effects of technology, greed, or totalitarianism.

All that said though, I can't wait to see what Ed G and Ryfle have in store next. Ryfle has talked about updating Japan's Favorite Mon-Star, which would be great to see in a clean, simple layout like the Honda book.

Last edited by tbeasley on Sat Feb 17, 2018 7:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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